Former US President Barack Obama has praised the remarkable achievements of the crew of the Artemis II crew mission following the successful completion of their historic deep space journey. In a statement on April 11, 2026, the 64-year-old praised the astronauts for their courage and achievement after completing a successful 10-day mission beyond low Earth orbit.
He said in a heartfelt message: “What the Artemis II astronauts did over the last ten days is a testament to their courage. And the fact that they traveled further from Earth than anyone else has ever done, re-entered our atmosphere at more than 25,000 miles per hour and splashed down safely was a testament to human ingenuity.”
The groundbreaking mission serves as an important testing ground for NASA’s long-term goals. Once the 10-day journey ends with a landing in the Pacific Ocean, the data collected will pave the way for a permanent human presence on the moon and future manned missions to Mars, while providing the world with historic glimpses into deep space. It is the first manned flight in more than fifty years to fly beyond Earth orbit.
The mission was successfully launched on April 1 using the Kennedy Space Center’s Space Launch System rocket. The mission covered approximately 694,481 miles. During the journey, the spacecraft reached a record distance of 400,000 kilometers from Earth during a lunar flight, surpassing the benchmark set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. A wide range of critical tests and experiments were conducted in the fields of deep space radiation and microgravity. The crew also captured thousands of images of the moon and Earth, providing crucial data for subsequent projects.
Artemis II astronauts continue their journey back to Earth after completing a historic moon flight and witnessing a total solar eclipse from their spacecraft. As the journey continued, the spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth: 252,756 miles (406,771 km) during the lunar flight. The incredible success of Artemis II laid the foundation for the Artemis III mission, scheduled for 2027, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon and pave the way for future missions to Mars.
